Tipple



J MoRRbw TIPPLE Filed June 29, 1923 s Sheets-Sheet 2 ,565.949 J. MORROW TIPPLB Filed June 2 1923' I Marrazz; $1,:

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Dec. 15, 1925 J. MORROW TIPPLE Filed June 29, 1923 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Jjllarram gwuentoz,

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Patented Dec. 15, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JERRY MORROW, F WELLS'ION, OHIO.

TIPPLE.

Application filed June 29,

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Jnnnr Monnow, a citizen of the United States, residing at lVellston, in the county of Jackson and State of Ohio, have invented a new and useful Tipple, of which the following is a specitication.

This invention relates to tipples for use as a part of mine equipment and in fact Wherever it is desirable to utilize means for automatically dumping cars in succession and returning them to their point of loading without the necessity of employing the usual switch mechanism under the control of an operator.

One of the objects of the in ention is to provide a tipple mechanism which will operate automatically, there being a combined transfer carriage and tipple to which cars are fed successively so as to be dumped, transferred to a return track and released, the carriage returning immediatelythereafter to receive another car.

A further object is to provide automatic mechanism which, after being initially operated to release a car, will thereafter succes sively release cars automatically and in properly timed relation so as to dump the contents thereof and transfer the cars to their return track.

With the foregoing and other objects in View which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement. of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings the preferred form of the invention has been shown.

In said drawings- Figure 1 is an elevation of the apparatus constituting the present invention, the track of the transfer carriage being shown in section, and the position of one of the cars during the dumping operation being indicated by broken lines.

Fig. 9. is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the mechanism, the transfer carriage being shown in position to receive a loaded car.

F g- 4 is a long udinal section thro gh 1923. Serial No. 648,535.

the feed, controlling mechanism on the supply track, a portion of the car being shown immediately subsequent to its release.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of one of the car retaining horns.

Fig 6 is a perspective view of a portion of the shifting bar of the feed controlling mechanism and showing a modified carriage engaging dog.

Fig. 7 is a view of a portionof the retaining bar and its dog.

Fig. 8 is a longitudinal section through the transfer carriage.

Fig. 9 is a transverse section therethrough on line 99 Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a view in diagram showing the horn operating mechanism controlled by the carriage. p

Referring to the figures by characters of reference 1 designates the usual frame work of a tipple which, in the present instance, supports two tracks, a supply track 2 inclined downwardly toward one end of the structure and a delivery track 3 located at a lower level and inclined downwardly away from said end of the structure. The two tracks terminate in the same vertical plane as shown in Fig. 1 but, as shown in Fig. 2, they are spaced apart laterally. Supported by the frame 1 beneath said terminals of the tracks is an inclined track 4 the rails of which have their upper ends upturned to constitute abutments 5 while their lower ends are also upturned to constitute abutments 6.

Pivotally mounted adjacent the rails of the track 2 are plates 7 constituting bell cranks. These plates extend under the rails and their outer ends are provided with upstanding portions 8 constituting horns. The

2. This bar has a depending car 14 at that end thereof nearest the terminal of the track and extending. from this ear is a lug 15 on which is pivotally mounted the forked end 16 of a dog 17. This dog projects from the supporting structure 1 close to but beneath the track 2 and has a laterally extending finger 18 e gaged by the rounded en 19 of a spring 20. This spring is fixedly mounted at one end as shown at 21 and serves to hold the inner end 22 of the dog normally pressed against the car 14 and the outer free end of the dog 17 normally projected to active position. Instead of mounting dog 17 as illustrated in Figs. 4 and 10 with its finger 18 engaged by a spring 20, one arm of a bell crank 23 can be placed in engagement with finger 18 while the other arm of the bell crank has a weight 24 operating to hold the dog normally in projected position. This modified structure, shown in Fig. 6, thus substitutes a weight for the spring 20.

A short standard 25 is mounted between the rails of the track 2 and has a latch lever 26 pivotally mounted thereon. One end of this lever has a head 27 normally engaging the stud 11 for the purpose of locking the slide bar 12 in one position and holding the horn 8 shifted laterally away from the rails of track 2. The upper end of the latch lever constitutes a cam as shown at 28 and is yieldingly supported by a spring 29 or any other suitable means. A safety lever 30 is pivotally supported between the rails of track 2 at a point between lever 26 and the terminal of the track .and one end of this lever extends through a slot 31 formed in the bar 12. The other end of the lever is normally inclined upwardly to constitute a stop arm 32 for use in emergencies as hereinafter explained.

The cars C used on the tipple are of the ordinary construction, the supporting wheels being adapted to travel along the rails of the track 2. To the rear axle A of each car is connected a tripping bracket 33. Each ear is provided with the usual end gate G having side frames F pivotally connected to the car body as shown at f.

A transfer carriage is mounted to travel upon the track 4 and includes a frame made up of side plates 34 connected by cross members 35 and 36. The cross members 35 constitute stationary axles engaged by support ing wheels 37 and side plates 34 are so shaped and located relative to the axles 36 that when the wheels 37 are in engagement with the rails of the inclined track 4, the upper edges of the side plates are horizontal.

Uastanding from the outer side plate 34 of the carriage are brackets 38 supporting a pivot rod 39 and tiltably mounted on this rod is a platform 40 carrying parallel rails 41. The ends of the rails remote from the .tracks 2 and 3 terminate in upwardly curved Under this weight supporting end of the platform is a lifting plate having longi tudinal slots 46 in which are mounted rollers 47 mounted on the inner side of one of the plates 45. This plate 45 has inclined edges 48 that are parallel and are designed simultaneously to engage the respective rails 41. when the plate 45 is shifted in one direction, thereby to tilt the platform relative to the carriage frame. Lifting plate 45 has an ear 49 at one end and fixedly mounted adja cent one end of the track 4 is a stop 50 adapted to be engaged by the ear 49. Another ear 51 is provided at the other end of the plate 45 and is adapted to engage a stop 52 located adjacent the other end of the track.

A cam plate 53 is secured to the side plate 34 nearest the tracks 2 and 3 and is so positioned as to engage the dog 17 during movement of the transfer carriage along the track 4.

Rack bar 43 is constantly in 'mesh with a gear 54 secured to and rotatable with a shaft 55 journaled in bearings 56 secured to the carriage frame. One end of this shaft has a brake wheel 57 and when the carriage is at the upper limit of its movement, this wheel is supported in the path of the arouate portion 58 of the brake lever 59, fulcrumed on the supporting structure l and normally held out of the path of the wheel 57 by a spring 60 or any other suitable means provided for that purpose. Lover 58 is extended to a point where it can be reached readily by the operator controlling the action of the mechanism. Another hand lever (11 located adjacent the end of lever 58 and isadapted to rotate a shaft 62 journaled in the structure 1 and under tract 2. A crank arm (53 connects this shaft to a sliding bar 64 mounted in a suitable guide 65. As shown particularly in Fig. 7 the free end portion of this bar 64 has a dog 66 pivotally connected thereto and formed with a stop extension G7. A spring 68 is mounted on the pivot of the dog and serves to hold the stop extension normally pressed against one side of bar 64 so that dog 6 is thus extended into the path of the cam plate 53.

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Pivotally mounted on axle 36 nearest brake wheel 57 is a latch lever 69 having a weighted head 70 provided with a beveled face 71. Thus when the carriage moves along track 4 to its uppermost position, the beveled face 71 of head 70 will slide over and gravitate into engagement with a holding plate 72 upstanding from the structure, 1. Latch lever 69 has an arm 73 projecting toward the rack bar 43 and pivotally mounted on this arm 73 is a dog 74 adapted to swing upwardly relative to the arm 73 but being held against downward movement relative to said arm by a stop projection 75 extending from the arm and under the dog.

A hanger 7G is connected to the platform 40 and has a tripping screw 77 extended therefrom. This screw is adapted, during the downward movement of the platform 40 relative to the carriage frame to engage and depress dog 74 so as to lift head 70 out of engagement with plate 72 and release the held ".arriage. \Vhen the platform is raised relative to the carriage frame, however, screw 77 will lift and pass the dog 74 without disturbing lever (59.

Secured to that axle 36 on which lever 69 is mounted is a flexible element such as a cable 78, this element being mounted on a grooved wheel 79 supported by a shaft 80 mounted on the structure 1 above the upper limit of movement of the carriage. weight 81 is suspended by this cable and is sufficiently heavy to causethe carriage to travel upwardly along the track 4 when not loaded. \Vhen the carriage is loaded, however, the weight thereof will be sufficient to lift weight 81 and cause the carriage to gravitate along track 4- after the carriage has been released from its restraining means.

Suspended adjacent the track and beyond the end of thetrack 2 is a tripping link 82 the lower end of which isadapted to engage and hold the gate G of a car during the tipping operation as hereinafter explained.

Under normal conditions the transfer carriage is located at the upper end of the track 4 with the tar 51 thrust against stop 52 and the lifting plate 45 shifted in one direction so that the inclined lifting edges '48 are thust under the rails 41 and the platform 40 is thus supported in alinement with the track 2 and inclined downwardly toward the side of the structure 1 as shown in Fig. 1. At this time the latch lever G9 is in engagement with the plate 72, lever 26 is in engagement with stud 11 and the horns 10 are held away from the rails of track 2. Thus when a trip of cars C is directed along the track 2, the first car will gravitate freely toward the tiltable platform 40 and as the rear axle of this first car reaches lever 26, the trip plate will engage the cam por- (fen 2S and shift the lever 26 against the action of spring 20. Thus the lever will be disengaged from stud 11 and the spring or the wcigl'ited lever 22lwill shift bar 12 longitudimilly and bring the dog 17 into thepath of the plate At the same time link 10 will pull on the plates 7 and swing horns 8 into position on the rails of track 2. Thus the second car of the trip will'be stopped as soon as its front wheels reach these horns, as shown in Fig. 1. Meanwhile the first car passes onto the rails 41 of plat-form and the front wheels come against the abutment 42. momentum is sufficient to cause the platform to tilt as shown by broken lines in Fig. 1 and. as the hooked link 82 is in thepath of:

The

the gate G, said gate will be restrained While the car is tilting, thus opening the outlet and allowing the contents of the car to gravitate therefrom. During this tilting of the car, the rack bar 43 will be moved upwardly and cause gear 5 1, shaft and wheel 57 to rotate. The speed of this r0 tation and, consequently, the speed of tilting of the car, can be regulated by shifting lever 58 so as to cause it to bind with more or less pressure on the wheel 57. As soon as the car is dumped, it will swing back with platform 40 to normal position, this movement being accelerated by weight 44. As the platform thus descends relative to the carriage, the screw 77 will strike the dog Tat and lift head of lever 69 out of engagement with plate 72. Thus the carriage is released and is free to gravitate along the track 4 until its front wheels come against the abutment (3 at which time the ear 49 comes against stop 50 and shifts lifting plate 45 so that the inclined edges 48 thereof will be retracted from under rails 41 and allow the platform to swing clownwardly into alinement with the track 3. Consequently as the carriage reaches its lower terminus, the car mounted thereon will be free to gravitate along the rails 41 and onto the rails of track 3, thence back to the loading point. As the transfer carriage moves along track f under the weight of the car thereon, the weight 81 is lifted but as soon as the car is delivered onto the track 3 and the transfer carriage 6 relieved of its weight, weight 81 will descend and pull the transfer carriage upwardly along track 4 to its normal position. As the carriage approaches the upper limit of its movement, the plate 53 which, during the descent'of the carriage, has snapped past the dog 17 without operating bar 12, will thrust against said dog and push the bar 12 against spring 20 or weighted lever 23. This action will swing the horns 8 out of the path of the second car of the trip and will at the same time, move the stud 11 into engagement with the head 27 of lever 26. Thus the trip of cars will move forward and when the rear axle of the second car comes to position adjacent lever 26 the trip ping plate 33 thereon will shift said lever as heretofore explained, and while the second car is being delivered to the dumping mechanism, a third car of the trip will be held. Thus the operation will be repeated throughout the length of the trip without requiring any attention from the operator other than manipulation of lever 58 to pre vent too rapid tilting of the car and platform as before explained. If, for any reason, the arm 12 should not be shifted longitudinally when released from lever 26, the upper Lend 32 of l ver 30 would remain in the position'shown in Fig. f and the triplit) L ping plate 33 would come against said portion 32 and thus prevent the car from passing oil of the end of the track and possibly wrecking the apparatus.

Should it be desired to hold the transfer carriage positively against movement, when at the lower limit of its movement, it would merely be necessary to shift lever 61 so as to project the dog 66 into the path of the wheels 37 of the transfer carriage. Thus when the carriage moves downwardly along its track a, it will push the dog 66 aside as will be obvious by referring to Figs. 2 and 7 after the carriage has been relieved of its load and starts to return to its upper position one of the wheels thereof will come against dog 66 and the carriage will thus be held in its lowermost position.

hat is claimed is 1. The combination with an inclined track and a transfer carriage mounted to travel therealong, of a supply track inclined clownwardly toward the point of transfer, a delivery track inclined downwardly away from the point of transfer, a tiltable car receiving track upon the carriage, and means for automatically tilting said track relative to the carriage to aline it with either the supply track or the delivery track when the carriage is at the respective limits of its movement.

2. The combination with a gravity operated wheel supported transfer carriage an inclined track on which the carriage is movable to either of two levels, a supply track inclined downwardly to one of said levels and a delivery track inclined downwardly from the other level, of a car receiving track movably mounted on the carriage, and means operated automatically by the move ment of the carriage to either level for shifting its track relative to the carriage to aline with the supply and delivery tracks respectively.

3. The combination with a wheel supported transfer carriage, an inclined track on which the carriage is movable to either of two levels, yielding means for holding the carriage normally at one level, said c,ar riage being movable under the weight of a load to the lower level, of a supply track inclined downwardly to the upper level, a delivery track inclined downwardly from the lower level, said track being spaced laterally, a car receiving track movably mounted on the carriage, and means for automatically shift-ing the track relative to the carriage to aline it with the supply and delivery tracks respectively when at the respective levels.

4. The combination with a transfer carriage, an inclined support therefor, and yielding means for holding the carriage normally at an upper level upon the support, said carriage being movable-t0 Q4 lower level under the weight of a load applied thereto, of a supply track inclined downwardly to the upper level, a delivery track inclined downwardly from the lower level, a tiltable car receiving track upon the carriage, and means operated by the movement of the carriage to either level for tilting the track into alinement with the supply and delivery tracks respectively.

The combination with a transfer carriage and an inclined support therefor, of yielding means for holding the carriage normally at an upper level on the support, said carriage being movable to a lower level under the weight of a load thereon, a tiltable platform extending transversely of the carriage, car receiving track rails thereon, terminal abutments at one end of the rails, a supply track inclined downwardly to the upper level of the carriage, a delivery track inclined downwardly from the lower level of the carriage, and means operated by the movement of the carriage to the respective levels for tilting the platform to aline its rails with the rails of the respective tracks.

6. The combination with a transfer carriage and an inclined support therefor, of gravity opera-ted means for holding the carriage normally at an upper level on the support, said carriage being movable under the weight of a load to a lower level, means for fastening the carriage at its upper level, a tiltable car receiving platform on the car riage, means thereon for retaining the car during the tilting of the platform, and means operated by the return of the platform to normal position for unfastening the carriage to allow gravitation thereof with its load to a lower level.

7. The combination with supply and delivery tracks at different levels, of a gravity operated transfer carriage movable to different levels, a tiltable car receiving platform on the carriage movable to position at one end of either track, a lifting plate mounted on the carriage and means in the path of said plate for shifting it relative to the carriage when the carriage reaches either limit of its movement, thereby to tilt the platform into alinement with the adjacentf track.

8. The combination with separate tracks at different levels, of a transfer carriage movable transversely across the ends of the respective tracks, gravity operated means for holding the carriage normally at an upper level, said carriage being movable under the weight of a load to a lower level, a tiltable car receiving platform upon the carriage. cooperating fixed and movable means for shifting the platform into alinement with the respective tracks when the carriage arrives at the respective levels, means for holding the carriage against movement during the tilting of the platform at the upper level, and means operated by the return of the platform to normal position for releasing the carriage for gravitation under the weight of the car upon the platform.

9. The combination with separate tracks at different levels, of a transfer carriage movable transversely across the ends of the respective tracks, gravity operated means for holding the carriage normally at an upper level, said carriage being movable under the weight of a load to a lower level, a tiltable car receiving platform upon the carriage, cooperating fixed and movable means for shifting the platform into alinement r with the respective tracks when the carriage arrives at the respective levels, means for holding the carriage. against movement during the tilting of the platform at the upper level, and means operated by the return of the platform to normal position for releasing the carriage for gravitation under the Weight of the car upon the platform, and means under the control of the operator for securing the carriage at its lower level against return movement by the gravity operated means.

10. The combination with laterally spaced supply and delivery tracks, and means for retaining cars upon the supply track, of

an inclined track, and gravity operated means on the inclined track and movable across the ends of the first named tracks for successively releasing a retained car, receiving the car from the supply track, conveying the ear laterally by gravity due to the weight of the car, to a lower level, and delivering the car to the delivery track.

11. The combination with supply and delivery tracks at different levels, and retaining means adjacent the supply track, of gravity operated transfer means movable along an inclined plane across the ends of the tracks to either of two levels, means controlled by the transfer means for automatically and successively releasing a retained car, receiving the car from the supply track, conveying the car to a lower level and delivering the car to the delivery track, and means under the control of the operator for holding the transfer means in delivering position, said gravity operated transfer means including means tiltable by the impact of a car thereagainst for dumping the car when delivered to said transfer means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature.

JERRY MORROW; 

